Squam

Much as I’m enjoying being back at home – good food with dear friends, organising, sewing, pottering about – if there was anywhere else I could be I think it would be back at the Squam Art Workshops, where Sarah and I found ourselves a few weeks ago.

Our time in New England was wonderfully relaxing, on our first night we met up with Jess and Casey from Ravelry for dinner in a neighbourhood full of beautiful old houses. The following morning I did just a little work before we headed north to Squam.

We stopped on the way at the Yarn and Fiber Company in Derry, where Sarah discovered a book she found very appealing.

We had some glorious weather and I swam in the lake frequently, including late at night under a magical star filled sky. But even in the rain this is a beautiful place.

We spent a lot of time in the dining hall, where we came together to eat lots of delicious food (even ice cream for breakfast was an option) and share what we’d made in our different classes.

Of course lots of my friends, being knit designers, were teaching classes, but I choose just to go for fun as a student. In keeping with this not working idea I picked classes that had nothing to do with work. 2 different fabric printing classes and one about making mobiles.

Although I’ve done some block printing before, I still learned a lot from our teacher, the talented fabric designer Lizzy House. You can see some of her prints on the wall behind her and she also designs super cute commercially printed fabric – I love these downloadable bookplates based on her current collection.

In the evenings we gathered together in the large playhouse, listening to music, stories and tales from the funniest knitter of all. Jess and Casey shared the story of Ravelry, and although I know them personally it was still fascinating to hear more about how it grew.

On Saturday night we did a little work and took part in the art fair, thanks to everyone who came and said hello!

I found a few souvenirs like this adorable little cup which says “I am a Thriving Artist” from Creative Thursday.

Along with this mobile I made in class they’re reminders of so many wonderful memories that I can’t help but smile when I see them dotted around my home. I’m already planning next year’s return to Squam.

Pricing patterns has always been one of the hardest parts of designing and I’ve often felt like the “standard” price of knitting patterns is both lower than other similar products (eg. indie sewing patterns) and doesn’t really reflect the amount of work that goes into them. At the same time, it’s totally fair to worry that rising pattern prices will price people out.